Food manufacturer Princes slapped with a fine for Bradford chemical incident

FOOD manufacturer Princes Ltd has been sentenced and slapped with a fine of nearly £15,000 after a worker was burned at its Bradford plant.

Mark McLean was working at Princes’ Bradford manufacturing facility when a hose spilt, spraying him with a caustic solution.

He suffered chemical burns to the side of his face and arms. Mr McLean was temporarily blinded during the incident at of Weaverthorpe Road.

Only last year the Liverpool-headquartered Princes completed a £40m investment of the Bradford site, intended for expansion and improvements.

More than 300 people work at the site, which was expanded by 31,000 sq ft.

The Health and Safety Executive found that there was no evidence of preventative measures taken prior to the incident that occurred in July 2013.

Princes Ltd Bradford, pleaded guilty at Bradford Magistrates Court and was fined £13,000.00 with £1,323.15 costs.

HSE inspector Kate Dixon commented: “The company failed to identify and eliminate the risk through good design, instruct employees correctly and instigate an inspection regime of the hoses and maintain the hoses in good working order.

“Had they done so, this accident would not have happened.”